WCG 2005 Official Rules & Regulations Announced

New official maps for Starcraft^®:Brood War^TM and Warcraft III^®: Frozen Throne^TM also unveiled

(April 19, 2005, Seoul) ICM, the global organizer of World Cyber Games, today announced WCG 2005 official rules and regulations.

The official rules and regulations will be applied in all local preliminaries and national finals in WCG participating countries, which are mostly scheduled to start from this month and will also be applied at WCG 2005 Grand Final in Singapore in November 2005.

ICM revised the existing WCG rules and regulations and finalized WCG 2005 version by positively accommodating the opinions from game professionals in many countries and gamers who participated in WCG rule evaluation process done in February 2005.

What's New - Enhancing 'Fun to Play' and 'Fun to Watch'

One of the most remarkable changes in WCG 2005 official rules and regulations is that they strengthen judges' authority to decide on matches in dispute which will help to prevent controversies. Judges, in case that a match is suspended due to unexpected factors or when there is a dispute regarding the match result, will usually decide the winner on such matches by reviewing replay files or order the players to a rematch with his/her own authority.

The newly adopted rules and regulations aim to enhance and maximize participating players' and spectators' amusement. In case of Counter StrikeTM, gamers are supposed to play thirty rounds per match lasting two minutes per round this year while they were supposed to play twenty-four rounds per match, two and half minutes per round at previous WCGs. This change is expected to provide spectators more exciting games and to give gamers more chances according to their level of competency.

In addition, ICM provides two options of Counter Strike^TM with '1.6' version and 'Source' version for local preliminaries and national finals of participating countries so that a country can choose either '1.6' version or 'Source' version depending on their market circumstance. However, WCG 2005 Grand Final will be based on 'Source' version of Counter StrikeTM, as the official game titles were announced in January.

Accepting gamers' opinion, Halo2^TM at WCG 2005 will adopt '2 vs 2' match style for more exciting games to play and to watch with more diversified strategies.

FIFA Soccer 2005^TM: WCG 2005 adopts 'Open Square Style' as a stadium. Iinstead of 'home and away' , the match result will be judged by one single match.

Need for Speed^TM: Players are allowed to use personal equipments such as controllers and wheels instead of WCG provided control device, and some courses favored by NFS players were included in the official racing course list.

Other Changes: New Maps for Starcraft^® and Warcraft III^®

With WCG 2005 official rules and regulations, three new official maps including WCG Gaia, WCG Estrella, and WCG Paranoid Android are unveiled for Starcraft and Echo Isle is introduced as a new official map for Warcraft III. One map is more to come for StarCraft soon.

In addition, the new rules and regulations open the way for some players who were previously confined by age restriction based on ESRB (Electronic Software Rating Board) policy. Those who are barred from participation due to the age restriction will be able to play in any official game only if they apply for the WCG official games with parent's consents or legal guardian's consents.

Hank Jeong, the CEO of ICM, said "we strongly focused on fully accommodating gamers' opinions to the official rules and regulations. WCG, as a leading worldwide game tournament and cultural festival, will continuously strive to set up standards of game tournaments all over the world by listening to gaming professionals and players, consequently maximizing gamers' and spectators' satisfaction."

For more information of WCG 2005 Rules & Regulation, visit WCG official site, www.worldcybergames.com

About the World Cyber Games (WCG)

The World Cyber Games (Co-Chairmen Chung, Dong-chea & Yun, Jong-yong, www.worldcybergames.com) is a global game cultural festival that was founded in 2000 to promote global harmony through cyber games. The event started in 2000, and has been running annually ever since (this will be the fifth year). With the slogan "Beyond the Game," the World Cyber Games has truly developed into a global game phenomenon with arguably the largest prize amount at stake. The World Cyber Games prides itself on leading the "Digital Entertainment Culture." The 2005 Games in Singapore will be held in November.

WCG 2005 Official Rules and Regulations - Major Changes

Counter Strike^TM

Before (2004)

Version: Condition Zero

- 24 rounds (CT/TR, 12 rounds per each)

Round time: 2 min. 30 sec.

After (2005)

Version: Choose one between Source and 1.6 (local preliminary and National Championships)

('Source' only at Grand Final in Singapore)

- 30 rounds (CT/TR, 15 rounds per each)

- Round time : shortened to 2 min.

- Official map: De_dust2, De_cbble, De_train

FIFA

Before (2004)

Version: FIFA Soccer 2004^TM

- Match type: Home & Away

After (2005)

Version: FIFA Soccer 2005TM

- Match type: Single game per match

- Off the Ball button not allowed (can cause elimination of user from tournament)

- Private configuration file not allowed

- Stadium: Open Square Style

- Default setting modified: Offside rule, radar, etc.

Need for Speed^TM

Before (2004)

Version: Need For Speed^TM: Underground

- Laps: 6

After (2005)

Version: Need For SpeedTM: Underground 2

- Laps: 5

- Personal equipments including controllers and wheels allowed

- Car setting regulation particularized

- Car setting thru Dyno mode

- Private save file not allowed

- Default setting modified

- Some courses favored by gamers newly included in official courses

Starcraft^®

Before (2004)

Version: StarCraft^®: Brood War^TM v 1.11

After (2005)

Version: StarCraft^®: Brood War^TM v 1.12

- Bug utilization and cheating strongly prohibited

- Judges can make final decisions based on replay files or order a rematch in case of unexpected suspension and/or disconnection

- New official maps (3)

WCG Gaia, WCG Estrella, WCG Paranoid Android

Warcraft III^®

After (2005)

- New official map: Echo Isle

- Gnoll Wood excluded from official map list

Halo2^TM

Before (2004)

Version: Halo^TM

Match type: 1 vs. 1

After (2005)

Version: Halo 2^TM

- Match type: 2 vs. 2

- Map for 4+ players will be used as an official map

- Default setting modified

Warhammer^® 40,000: Dawn of War

Newly introduced in WCG 2005

Dead or Alive^® Ultimate

Newly introduced in WCG 2005

Contact :

Michelle Kim, ICM, michelle@icm2k.com +82-2-2106-6550

D.K Ha, ICM, dk@icm2k.com +82-2-2106-6551

Mia Yu, ICM, miayu@icm2k.com +82-2-2106-6552